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Cass County commissioners agree to July
8 public hearing on law enforcement
By Jeff Armstrong
A surprisingly responsive Cass
County Board of Commissioners
agreed at its July 1 meeting to hold a
special public hearing next week on
allegations of police brutality and
other unlawful activity by county
deputies. The county stopped short,
however, of formally requesting that
sheriff Jim Dowson initiate a criminal
investigation of deputy Robert
Karbowski, whose June 21 assault of
an Anishinabe woman on Leech Lake
prompted demands to rein in the
department.
The hearing before the Cass County
commissioners was scheduled for
Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the board's
meeting room, next to the Walker
courthouse. Leech Lake RBC
secretary treasurer Linda Johnston
pledged to attend the July 8 meeting,
but said she did not wish to make a
public statement at present.
"We have two women here who were
assaulted by a police officer who
really had no reason to stop the vehicle
in the first place," activist Roxanne
LaRose told the commissioners. "The
reason we're here is because we've
already been to the law enforcement,
and they refused to even take a
complaint" against the officer, she
said.
While some questioned the extent of
the board's authority over county law
enforcement, the commissioners
agreed something must be done. "We
can't have our deputies going around
clubbing a woman," said board chair
John Stranne. "We've got to look into
this. That's a very serious allegation."
County administrator Robert
Yochum on several occasions
Enforce cont'd on 3
Slumlord tenants urged to continue race
complaints
'Indians never follow through with anything,' says Anderson
By Gary Blair
Former tenants of slumlord Bob
Anderson are being reminded to
follow through with the race based
discrimination complaints that they
filed with the Minneapolis Civil
Rights Department (MCRD) against
the notorious Minneapolis landlord.
Tenant advocate Mary Foote said
this week that no one showed up last
week for their ongoing Tuesday
evening meetings, which were being
held at 4:00 p.m. at the Waite House,
located at 13th St. and 26th Av. So.,
in Minneapolis. Foote says the tenants
must make sure that their paperwork
has been completed and submitted so
that the complaints can be processed
by the MCRD. "I am hoping it was
just the weather that kept them from
attending last Tuesday's meeting," she
said.
"Anderson has been telling people
that he is betting that the tenants won't
follow through with then complaints,"
Foote said on Wednesday. "He's been
telling his non-Indian tenants, 'Those
.... Indians won't follow through with
their complaints, Indians never follow
through with anything.'
Bois Forte RBC removes its chairman
(NAP/ON) The Bois Forte
Reservation Business Committee
voted 3-1 on June 24 to oust its
chairman, Clint Landgren, less than
one year into his four year term of
office. If upheld, the action would
constitute the first successful removal
of a chairman in the history of the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, though
two chairmen were convicted last year
on numerous federal theft charges.
Executive director Frank Annette is
the former BIA Minnesota agency
superintendent, which may be a factor
in gaining Bureau recognition of the
move.
Landgren had apparently been unable
to exercise the traditional powers of
office since his election last June, at
times complaining that even
administrative staff members would
not listen to him. His removal,
however, may affect the composition
of the Tribal Executive Committee,
which had been almost evenly split
between incumbents and those
nominally committed to cosmetic
reforms in the corruption-ridden
governing body.
Supporters of Landgren said the
charges stemmed from the chairman's
hiring an auditor to investigate a $3.4
million cost overrun at the Fortune
RED LAKE, Minn. (AP) _ Senate
Majority Leader Roger Moe will get a
new name when the Red Lake Band of
Chippewa adopts him next week,
joining former Vice Presidents Hubert
Humphrey and Walter Mondale in
receiving the honor.
Moe, DFL-Erskine, will be given
the Ojibwe name Gi-neu, meaning
"Golden Eagle," during formal
ceremonies July 5.
"I consider it a high honor," said
Moe, DFL-Erskine, who has
represented all or part ofthe sprawling
5,100-resident northern Minnesota
reservation in the Senate since 1970.
"Sen. Moe has done exemplary work
on behalf of the Red Lake Nation and
other Minnesota tribes," tribal
chairman Bobby Whitefeather wrote
in an invitation to the ceremonies.
"The Red Lake Nation is proud to call
Sen. Moe 'Our Senator.'"
Moe has opposed state-run casino
gambling that would compete with
Gaming contributions triple
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe topped a
list of gaming interests that have made
big political contributions, according
to a new report by the watchdog group
Common Cause.
The Pequots gave $974,625 from
1988-1996 to be the biggest gaming
donor, followed by Interface Group
Inc/Sands Hotel, at$569,250; Mirage
Resorts Inc., with$554,000; andBally
Entertainment Corp., at $470,905.
Overall, gaming interests tripled
their political contributions from 1994
to 1996, spending almost $4 million
last year as Congress agreed to create
a federal commission to study the
industry.
The contributions, called "soft
money" because they were funneled
through political organizations rather
than given directly to candidates,
totaled $8.67 million in the past
decade, Common Cause said.
Donors didn't discriminate between
the two political parties _ Democrats
received $4.6 million and Republicans
$4.1 million. The top three recipients
over the decade were Nevada's
Democratic Sens. Dick Bryan and
Harry Reid, and Republican Rep. John
Ensign.
Ensign ranked high despite running
only two campaigns. Rep. Jim
Gibbons, R-Nev., who has run only
one campaign, ranked fifth.
"The pattern of giving by gambling
interests shows just how soft money is
targeted specifically to affect
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)_ A federal
judge on Friday sharply criticized the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its
initial decision to turn over to Indian
tribes an ancient skeleton found on the
banks of the Columbia River last
summer.
In a written opinion, U.S. Magistrate
John Jelderks said the agency acted
prematurely and without considering
all relevant information when it halted
study of the 9,300-year-old skeleton
known as Kennewick Man.
He ordered the corps to consider a
request by eight scientists to study the
remains, which are among the oldest
and most complete ever found in North
America.
"I have not determined that the corps'
decisions were 'wrong,' " Jelderks
wrote. "I am not deciding today who
ultimately is entitled to the custody of
the remains, or whether the scientists
should be permitted to conduct any
tests upon those remains. Rather, what
I have determined is that the agency's
decision-making procedure was
flawed."
The scientists sued the corps in U.S.
District Court last October, arguing
their First Amendment rights had been
violated. They also sought permission
to study the skeleton. A religious
group, the Asatru Folk Assembly, also
sued.
On June 2, the judge denied the
scientists' motion seeking immediate
Cass County commissioners agree to July 8 hearing
Slumlord tenants urged to continue race complaints
Bois Forte RBC removes chairman Landgren
1997 Indigenous Women's Gathering/ page 5
Latest on MCT land claims offer/ page 8
Voice ofthe People
1
"It is important that Anderson's past
and present tenants attend our
meetings. We are also going to be
looking at criminal charges against
Anderson; he has been violating his
tenants' rights for a long time," Foote
added.
Subsequent attempts to reach
Anderson, a former Lieutenant with f
the Minneapolis Police Department
who now serves as that department's
chemical dependency counselor, for
comment have been unsuccessful. Six
weeks ago, when Anderson was
Tenants cont'd on 3
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Bay Hotel. Fortune Bay's attorney is
Mark Anderson, of the controversial
Jacobson, Buffalo, Schoessler and
Magnuson law firm, the same firm
which brought suit against Leech Lake
RBC chairman Eli Hunt while under
contract with the reservation.
Anderson's brother Rick is general
manager of Fortune Bay, while
construction superintendent Dave
Anderson is a cousin to the Andersons,
according to Landgren.
"The resort and the casino are owned
by the people. They have a right to
know where the extra money went,"
Landgren told the Timberjay
newspaper.
Senate Majority leader adopted by Red Lake
Band of Chippewa
Indian casinos. And this year, he
appointed Red Lake spiritual elder
Thomas Stillday Jr. as the Senate's
first non- Judeo-Christian chaplain. He
also called for the first "State of the
Tribes" hearing before a joint
legislative committee.
The Red Lake Band adopted
Humphrey and Mondale when they
served in the U.S. Senate in the 1960s.
Stillday will present Moe with an
eagle feather during the ceremonies,
which will include a traditional feast.
legislation and policy," said Ann
McBride, president of Common
Cause.
The report, "Gamblers Unanimous,"
comes at an inopportune time for the
casino industry as Congress seeks
revenue sources in cobbling together
a tax bill.
Frank Fahrenkopf, president ofthe
American Gaming Association, said
the report is misleading because it
lumps Indian gaming, lotteries and
unions with mainstream casinos. He
said there was a dramatic increase in
soft money contributions overall last
year after a Supreme Court ruling
loosened restrictions.
"If you look at the steel and
Triple cont'd on 8
Judge criticizes Army Corps for initial
decision on skeleton
Founded in 1988
Volume 9 Issue 38
July 4, 1997
1
access to the old bones, but ordered
the corps to reconsider its original
decision, whichitrescindedthis spring.
Friday's opinion elaborated on the
June 2 ruling.
Paula A. Barran, an attorney
representing the scientists, called the
opinion brilliant.
"The court goes as far to finding it
was almost a sham," Barran said of
the corps' decision-making.
The bones were found last summer
on land the corps manages along the
Columbia River in Kennewick, Wash.
Initial study was halted when the corps
announced its intention to turn the
skeleton overto tribes underthe federal
Corps cont'd on 8
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News, 1997
A trailer in Red Lake belonging to Kelly Green was a total loss to fire, the incident was reported on
June 26 and arson has not been ruled out. The actual cause is still under investigation.
Red Lake gathers for peace
By Delvyn Brooks
Bemidji Pioneer staff writer
REDLAKE - Five hundred
members of the Red Lake Nation
gathered here Wednesday at the tribe's
Humanities Building to begin the
process of recovering from the rash
of violence teenager Wesley Strong's
death has sent across the reservation.
Earlier in the day, 350 Redlake
residents and 150 Ponemah residents
set out walking toward each other and
met 17 miles later at what is known as
"the cut-off," a grassy, picnic area on
the east side of Lower Red Lake.
The "Peaceful Solutions Walk,"
organized by a subcommittee of the
reservation's community unity
planners, was the symbolic journey for
young and old ofthe tribe, who began
the arduous path toward reuniting a
long-ago peaceful people, according
to the event's organizers.
Sunrise ceremonies by spiritual
leaders at four points around the lake
were conducted prior to the walk not
only to give strength to those who
were walking, but to the entire
community in pursuit of peace,
something that has eluded the
reservation for many years, spiritual
leader Frank Dickinson said.
Peace cont'd on 5
Chairman convicted of bribery, tax evasion
By Greta Guest
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) _
Fred Dakota, known as the grandfather
of Indian gambling, was convicted
Friday on federal bribery and tax
evasion charges.
Dakota, tribal chairman of the
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in
the Upper Peninsula, was convicted
on charges he accepted bribes from a
New Jersey slot machine dealer and
then evaded taxes on the $ 127,000 in
payments.
Dakota, who has headed the tribe
for 22 years, led negotiations with
Gov. John Engler that resulted in
compacts for several Michigan tribes
in 1993.
But as he negotiated the compacts
making slot machines in reservation
casinos legal, prosecutors said he took
kickbacks from 1991-93 from Jerrold
Polinsky of Atlantic City, N.J.
Dakota received the series of checks
from Polinsky in a deal that involved
leasing200slotmachines for the tribe's
Ojibwa casino in Baraga from
Minneapolis-based International
Gaming Management Inc., or IGM.
The tribe paid 35 percent of machine
revenues to IGM. Of that, Polinsky
received 5 percent and paid Dakota.
Both men were charged with bribery
and conspiracy to bribe. Dakota was
acquitted on a conspiracy charge while
Polinsky was found guilty on both
charges.
Engler's spokesman John Truscott
said that while the governor doesn't
favor casino gambling, he has been
impressed by how it has helped some
tribes.
"He's known Fred for a number of
years. This is really unfortunate
because many tribes have been able to
do good things for their members
because of casino revenues," Truscott
said. "It's certainly unfortunate for
Fred and for his tribe."
Dakota started Indian gambling in a
two-car garage. Opened on New
Year's Eve 1983, cars lined up to sit at
Dakota's handmade blackjack table
and bar.
But the federal government closed
the operation down two years later
when an appeals court ruled that a
tribe, not an individual, could operate
a casino.
That decision and one involving a
California tribe led to the federal law
that allows recognized tribes to operate
Convicted cont'd on 5
Court to review lawsuits against Indian
deals outside tribal lands
By Richard Carelli
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The
Supreme Court on Friday agreed to
decide whether Indian tribes can be
sued for monetary damages in state
courts over deals negotiated outside
tribal lands.
The justices said they will review
rulings by Oklahoma courts that
allowed such a lawsuit and awarded
$445,470 against the Kiowa Tribe for
defaulting on contract payments.
Clinton administration lawyers
urged the nation's highest court to
tackle the Oklahoma case "to correct a
serious error of federal law that fails to
respect the sovereign status of Indian
tribes and threatens their economic
well-being."
In 1990, the Kiowa Tribe bought
from Manufacturing Technologies Inc.
shares in an Oklahoma business called
Clinton-Sherman Aviation.
The tribe signed a promissory note
that pledged to make regular payments
for the shares but failed to make the
note payments. Manufacturing
Technologies sued in a state court in
Oklahoma City, but the tribe contended
that it was immune from such a lawsuit
in state court.
The state trial judge rejected the
tribe's argument and eventually
ordered the tribe to pay $445,470.
A state appeals court upheld the
judgment, and the Oklahoma Supreme
Court refused to hear the tribe' s appeal
last September.
The state courts ruled that if an Indian
tribe engages in commerce outside
Indian country it subjects itself to a
state court's jurisdiction unless
Congress specifically bars it.
In the appeal acted on Friday,
Review cont'd on 3
i

Content and images in this collection may be reproduced and used freely without written permission only for educational purposes. Any other use requires the express written consent of Bemidji State University and the Associated Press. All uses require an

Cass County commissioners agree to July
8 public hearing on law enforcement
By Jeff Armstrong
A surprisingly responsive Cass
County Board of Commissioners
agreed at its July 1 meeting to hold a
special public hearing next week on
allegations of police brutality and
other unlawful activity by county
deputies. The county stopped short,
however, of formally requesting that
sheriff Jim Dowson initiate a criminal
investigation of deputy Robert
Karbowski, whose June 21 assault of
an Anishinabe woman on Leech Lake
prompted demands to rein in the
department.
The hearing before the Cass County
commissioners was scheduled for
Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the board's
meeting room, next to the Walker
courthouse. Leech Lake RBC
secretary treasurer Linda Johnston
pledged to attend the July 8 meeting,
but said she did not wish to make a
public statement at present.
"We have two women here who were
assaulted by a police officer who
really had no reason to stop the vehicle
in the first place," activist Roxanne
LaRose told the commissioners. "The
reason we're here is because we've
already been to the law enforcement,
and they refused to even take a
complaint" against the officer, she
said.
While some questioned the extent of
the board's authority over county law
enforcement, the commissioners
agreed something must be done. "We
can't have our deputies going around
clubbing a woman," said board chair
John Stranne. "We've got to look into
this. That's a very serious allegation."
County administrator Robert
Yochum on several occasions
Enforce cont'd on 3
Slumlord tenants urged to continue race
complaints
'Indians never follow through with anything,' says Anderson
By Gary Blair
Former tenants of slumlord Bob
Anderson are being reminded to
follow through with the race based
discrimination complaints that they
filed with the Minneapolis Civil
Rights Department (MCRD) against
the notorious Minneapolis landlord.
Tenant advocate Mary Foote said
this week that no one showed up last
week for their ongoing Tuesday
evening meetings, which were being
held at 4:00 p.m. at the Waite House,
located at 13th St. and 26th Av. So.,
in Minneapolis. Foote says the tenants
must make sure that their paperwork
has been completed and submitted so
that the complaints can be processed
by the MCRD. "I am hoping it was
just the weather that kept them from
attending last Tuesday's meeting," she
said.
"Anderson has been telling people
that he is betting that the tenants won't
follow through with then complaints,"
Foote said on Wednesday. "He's been
telling his non-Indian tenants, 'Those
.... Indians won't follow through with
their complaints, Indians never follow
through with anything.'
Bois Forte RBC removes its chairman
(NAP/ON) The Bois Forte
Reservation Business Committee
voted 3-1 on June 24 to oust its
chairman, Clint Landgren, less than
one year into his four year term of
office. If upheld, the action would
constitute the first successful removal
of a chairman in the history of the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, though
two chairmen were convicted last year
on numerous federal theft charges.
Executive director Frank Annette is
the former BIA Minnesota agency
superintendent, which may be a factor
in gaining Bureau recognition of the
move.
Landgren had apparently been unable
to exercise the traditional powers of
office since his election last June, at
times complaining that even
administrative staff members would
not listen to him. His removal,
however, may affect the composition
of the Tribal Executive Committee,
which had been almost evenly split
between incumbents and those
nominally committed to cosmetic
reforms in the corruption-ridden
governing body.
Supporters of Landgren said the
charges stemmed from the chairman's
hiring an auditor to investigate a $3.4
million cost overrun at the Fortune
RED LAKE, Minn. (AP) _ Senate
Majority Leader Roger Moe will get a
new name when the Red Lake Band of
Chippewa adopts him next week,
joining former Vice Presidents Hubert
Humphrey and Walter Mondale in
receiving the honor.
Moe, DFL-Erskine, will be given
the Ojibwe name Gi-neu, meaning
"Golden Eagle," during formal
ceremonies July 5.
"I consider it a high honor," said
Moe, DFL-Erskine, who has
represented all or part ofthe sprawling
5,100-resident northern Minnesota
reservation in the Senate since 1970.
"Sen. Moe has done exemplary work
on behalf of the Red Lake Nation and
other Minnesota tribes," tribal
chairman Bobby Whitefeather wrote
in an invitation to the ceremonies.
"The Red Lake Nation is proud to call
Sen. Moe 'Our Senator.'"
Moe has opposed state-run casino
gambling that would compete with
Gaming contributions triple
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe topped a
list of gaming interests that have made
big political contributions, according
to a new report by the watchdog group
Common Cause.
The Pequots gave $974,625 from
1988-1996 to be the biggest gaming
donor, followed by Interface Group
Inc/Sands Hotel, at$569,250; Mirage
Resorts Inc., with$554,000; andBally
Entertainment Corp., at $470,905.
Overall, gaming interests tripled
their political contributions from 1994
to 1996, spending almost $4 million
last year as Congress agreed to create
a federal commission to study the
industry.
The contributions, called "soft
money" because they were funneled
through political organizations rather
than given directly to candidates,
totaled $8.67 million in the past
decade, Common Cause said.
Donors didn't discriminate between
the two political parties _ Democrats
received $4.6 million and Republicans
$4.1 million. The top three recipients
over the decade were Nevada's
Democratic Sens. Dick Bryan and
Harry Reid, and Republican Rep. John
Ensign.
Ensign ranked high despite running
only two campaigns. Rep. Jim
Gibbons, R-Nev., who has run only
one campaign, ranked fifth.
"The pattern of giving by gambling
interests shows just how soft money is
targeted specifically to affect
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)_ A federal
judge on Friday sharply criticized the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its
initial decision to turn over to Indian
tribes an ancient skeleton found on the
banks of the Columbia River last
summer.
In a written opinion, U.S. Magistrate
John Jelderks said the agency acted
prematurely and without considering
all relevant information when it halted
study of the 9,300-year-old skeleton
known as Kennewick Man.
He ordered the corps to consider a
request by eight scientists to study the
remains, which are among the oldest
and most complete ever found in North
America.
"I have not determined that the corps'
decisions were 'wrong,' " Jelderks
wrote. "I am not deciding today who
ultimately is entitled to the custody of
the remains, or whether the scientists
should be permitted to conduct any
tests upon those remains. Rather, what
I have determined is that the agency's
decision-making procedure was
flawed."
The scientists sued the corps in U.S.
District Court last October, arguing
their First Amendment rights had been
violated. They also sought permission
to study the skeleton. A religious
group, the Asatru Folk Assembly, also
sued.
On June 2, the judge denied the
scientists' motion seeking immediate
Cass County commissioners agree to July 8 hearing
Slumlord tenants urged to continue race complaints
Bois Forte RBC removes chairman Landgren
1997 Indigenous Women's Gathering/ page 5
Latest on MCT land claims offer/ page 8
Voice ofthe People
1
"It is important that Anderson's past
and present tenants attend our
meetings. We are also going to be
looking at criminal charges against
Anderson; he has been violating his
tenants' rights for a long time," Foote
added.
Subsequent attempts to reach
Anderson, a former Lieutenant with f
the Minneapolis Police Department
who now serves as that department's
chemical dependency counselor, for
comment have been unsuccessful. Six
weeks ago, when Anderson was
Tenants cont'd on 3
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
Bay Hotel. Fortune Bay's attorney is
Mark Anderson, of the controversial
Jacobson, Buffalo, Schoessler and
Magnuson law firm, the same firm
which brought suit against Leech Lake
RBC chairman Eli Hunt while under
contract with the reservation.
Anderson's brother Rick is general
manager of Fortune Bay, while
construction superintendent Dave
Anderson is a cousin to the Andersons,
according to Landgren.
"The resort and the casino are owned
by the people. They have a right to
know where the extra money went,"
Landgren told the Timberjay
newspaper.
Senate Majority leader adopted by Red Lake
Band of Chippewa
Indian casinos. And this year, he
appointed Red Lake spiritual elder
Thomas Stillday Jr. as the Senate's
first non- Judeo-Christian chaplain. He
also called for the first "State of the
Tribes" hearing before a joint
legislative committee.
The Red Lake Band adopted
Humphrey and Mondale when they
served in the U.S. Senate in the 1960s.
Stillday will present Moe with an
eagle feather during the ceremonies,
which will include a traditional feast.
legislation and policy," said Ann
McBride, president of Common
Cause.
The report, "Gamblers Unanimous,"
comes at an inopportune time for the
casino industry as Congress seeks
revenue sources in cobbling together
a tax bill.
Frank Fahrenkopf, president ofthe
American Gaming Association, said
the report is misleading because it
lumps Indian gaming, lotteries and
unions with mainstream casinos. He
said there was a dramatic increase in
soft money contributions overall last
year after a Supreme Court ruling
loosened restrictions.
"If you look at the steel and
Triple cont'd on 8
Judge criticizes Army Corps for initial
decision on skeleton
Founded in 1988
Volume 9 Issue 38
July 4, 1997
1
access to the old bones, but ordered
the corps to reconsider its original
decision, whichitrescindedthis spring.
Friday's opinion elaborated on the
June 2 ruling.
Paula A. Barran, an attorney
representing the scientists, called the
opinion brilliant.
"The court goes as far to finding it
was almost a sham," Barran said of
the corps' decision-making.
The bones were found last summer
on land the corps manages along the
Columbia River in Kennewick, Wash.
Initial study was halted when the corps
announced its intention to turn the
skeleton overto tribes underthe federal
Corps cont'd on 8
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe News, 1997
A trailer in Red Lake belonging to Kelly Green was a total loss to fire, the incident was reported on
June 26 and arson has not been ruled out. The actual cause is still under investigation.
Red Lake gathers for peace
By Delvyn Brooks
Bemidji Pioneer staff writer
REDLAKE - Five hundred
members of the Red Lake Nation
gathered here Wednesday at the tribe's
Humanities Building to begin the
process of recovering from the rash
of violence teenager Wesley Strong's
death has sent across the reservation.
Earlier in the day, 350 Redlake
residents and 150 Ponemah residents
set out walking toward each other and
met 17 miles later at what is known as
"the cut-off," a grassy, picnic area on
the east side of Lower Red Lake.
The "Peaceful Solutions Walk,"
organized by a subcommittee of the
reservation's community unity
planners, was the symbolic journey for
young and old ofthe tribe, who began
the arduous path toward reuniting a
long-ago peaceful people, according
to the event's organizers.
Sunrise ceremonies by spiritual
leaders at four points around the lake
were conducted prior to the walk not
only to give strength to those who
were walking, but to the entire
community in pursuit of peace,
something that has eluded the
reservation for many years, spiritual
leader Frank Dickinson said.
Peace cont'd on 5
Chairman convicted of bribery, tax evasion
By Greta Guest
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) _
Fred Dakota, known as the grandfather
of Indian gambling, was convicted
Friday on federal bribery and tax
evasion charges.
Dakota, tribal chairman of the
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in
the Upper Peninsula, was convicted
on charges he accepted bribes from a
New Jersey slot machine dealer and
then evaded taxes on the $ 127,000 in
payments.
Dakota, who has headed the tribe
for 22 years, led negotiations with
Gov. John Engler that resulted in
compacts for several Michigan tribes
in 1993.
But as he negotiated the compacts
making slot machines in reservation
casinos legal, prosecutors said he took
kickbacks from 1991-93 from Jerrold
Polinsky of Atlantic City, N.J.
Dakota received the series of checks
from Polinsky in a deal that involved
leasing200slotmachines for the tribe's
Ojibwa casino in Baraga from
Minneapolis-based International
Gaming Management Inc., or IGM.
The tribe paid 35 percent of machine
revenues to IGM. Of that, Polinsky
received 5 percent and paid Dakota.
Both men were charged with bribery
and conspiracy to bribe. Dakota was
acquitted on a conspiracy charge while
Polinsky was found guilty on both
charges.
Engler's spokesman John Truscott
said that while the governor doesn't
favor casino gambling, he has been
impressed by how it has helped some
tribes.
"He's known Fred for a number of
years. This is really unfortunate
because many tribes have been able to
do good things for their members
because of casino revenues," Truscott
said. "It's certainly unfortunate for
Fred and for his tribe."
Dakota started Indian gambling in a
two-car garage. Opened on New
Year's Eve 1983, cars lined up to sit at
Dakota's handmade blackjack table
and bar.
But the federal government closed
the operation down two years later
when an appeals court ruled that a
tribe, not an individual, could operate
a casino.
That decision and one involving a
California tribe led to the federal law
that allows recognized tribes to operate
Convicted cont'd on 5
Court to review lawsuits against Indian
deals outside tribal lands
By Richard Carelli
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The
Supreme Court on Friday agreed to
decide whether Indian tribes can be
sued for monetary damages in state
courts over deals negotiated outside
tribal lands.
The justices said they will review
rulings by Oklahoma courts that
allowed such a lawsuit and awarded
$445,470 against the Kiowa Tribe for
defaulting on contract payments.
Clinton administration lawyers
urged the nation's highest court to
tackle the Oklahoma case "to correct a
serious error of federal law that fails to
respect the sovereign status of Indian
tribes and threatens their economic
well-being."
In 1990, the Kiowa Tribe bought
from Manufacturing Technologies Inc.
shares in an Oklahoma business called
Clinton-Sherman Aviation.
The tribe signed a promissory note
that pledged to make regular payments
for the shares but failed to make the
note payments. Manufacturing
Technologies sued in a state court in
Oklahoma City, but the tribe contended
that it was immune from such a lawsuit
in state court.
The state trial judge rejected the
tribe's argument and eventually
ordered the tribe to pay $445,470.
A state appeals court upheld the
judgment, and the Oklahoma Supreme
Court refused to hear the tribe' s appeal
last September.
The state courts ruled that if an Indian
tribe engages in commerce outside
Indian country it subjects itself to a
state court's jurisdiction unless
Congress specifically bars it.
In the appeal acted on Friday,
Review cont'd on 3
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